Design for an Axial Lumbar Interbody Fusion Surgical Simulation

The AxiaLIF procedure is performed on the lowest level of the lumbar spine, the L5-S1 disc space, which is accessed through a 2 cm surgical incision adjacent to the coccyx. Roughly 1,600 AxiaLIF procedures have been performed in hospitals across the United States (Aryan, H. E. et al., 2008). A biomimetic spinal anatomical model was created that can allow medical professionals to hone their skills performing the AxiaLIF surgery. The model includes the lower spine, highlighting spinal discs L3 through S5, and gives the learner feedback ensuring that the user does not cause any surgical complications. To ensure biomimetic capabilities, materials were tested to see how their mechanical properties compared to those found in an actual patient

Evaluating the Effectiveness of the ARRS System

The ASSISTments system is a web-based tutoring site designed to engage middle and high school students in key course objectives, and to help them excel in these objectives with the use of a space learning based technique. This system is designed to retest students on a timed basis. The goal of this IQP is to test the efficiency of ARRS and prove that ARRS increases retention rate among students. The students were divided by class and then split up randomly into two groups, A and B. Both groups received weekly homework assignments with either group A or B receiving ARRS in each skill. After all relearning assignments were completed; the classes were given different post tests with transfer questions complementing the topics they were given with ARRS